836 The Enemies ArrivedThe girl became more elegant and theTrue Dragon blood made her look as noble as a princess.
“Why are you back?”
Chen Fan smiled as usual.
“Great Grandpa said I’ve been in the temple for too long, so he allowed me to come back and take a short break. Besides, I missed you and Grandpa Ding so much…”
The girl then ran into Chen Fan’s arms and started crying.
Chen Fan gently hugged her; she had grown and developed a better figure. He glanced over the door and saw Qin Luo standing there expressionlessly. This time, Chen Fan didn’t give in. He hugged Xiao Mang tighter and caressed her hair,
“Hm.”
Xiao Mang felt comfortable and relieved.
Her return was a big deal for the neighborhood. Old Ding laughed happily for the first time in a few months and he made a full table of herbal cuisine. The neighbors were also thrilled. Auntie Liu even gave them a chicken.
The neighborhood was the same as before.
“Brother, I had a lot of fun in the last few months. There are many grandpas with white beards in the Ancestral Temple. They taught me different things every day. Grandpa Li is good at brewing elixirs, Grandpa Qi knows how to use flying swords and Grandpa Xu can tame beasts. He even promised to give me a super cute pet…”
Xiao Mang kept talking.
Chen Fan knew that those white-bearded grandpas were the Elders of the Ancestral Temple. As the only Connate Overlords among the Chinese, every one of them were extremely strong.
“Great Grandpa was very curious about you and he asked me a lot of questions. He also told me to say hi to you.
“Right, I’ve also met Master Qin Luo. Even though everyone said he’s cool, he smiles every time he sees me. I saw him split a monster the size of a mountain in half. He’s really impressive…”
Xiao Mang suddenly paused.
She glanced at Chen Fan anxiously and only felt relieved when she saw Chen Fan wasn’t angry.
After several months of ongoing cultivation, Xiao Mang not only entered the Ethereal Enlightenment Level and became an Immortal Cultivator, but she also realized that Chen Fan wasn’t really powerful.
Those monsters in the North Sea were beasts that normal people could never defeat, but they were just Foundation Establishment Beasts in the eyes of Immortal Cultivators. Any Ethereal Enlightenment Cultivator could kill them in a second. Compared to killing the monster king, this was nothing.
After that, Xiao Mang didn’t talk about Qin Luo and the Ancestral Temple anymore, so that she wouldn’t irritate Chen Fan.
Chen Fan and Old Ding also noticed that, but they just smiled at each other and didn’t say anything else.
In the end, Xiao Mang said seriously, “Brother, let me protect you in the future. I’ll become stronger and you won’t have to take any risks for me.”
“All right, I’ll wait for you.”
Chen Fan nodded and smiled.
Xiao Mang didn’t stay too late at home. That night, people from the Ancestral Temple arrived, led by Qin Luo.
“It’s time to go back,” Qin Luo said coldly.
“Master Qin Luo, can’t we stay a bit longer?” Xiao Mang got up and asked.
“Cultivation is all about persistence. You’re a Chinese cultivator and you can’t slow down. Otherwise, how can you protect our people in the future?”
Qin Luo didn’t compromise at all.
Xiao Mang turned around and looked at Chen Fan and Old Ding. She kept tugging at Chen Fan’s clothes and stared at her feet. In the end, Chen Fan smiled and told her they could still meet next time. The little girl was then taken by the guards.
Qin Luo didn’t say another word to Chen Fan anymore and he kept glaring at him.
After that, Xiao Mang only returned once in a while.
She said she could go home because Great Grandpa allowed her to. Chen Fan guessed the Great Grandpa she talked about was the Grand Elder of the Chinese, Xie Changying.
Xie Changying.
He was five hundred and three years old and was the oldest Chinese cultivator. He was also the Grand Elder of the Ancestral Temple and the one who ruled over the Chinese.
“It seems that only the Grand Elder knows about the forbidden areas in the Ancestral Temple. He should also know the secret of the Chinese. Should I pay a visit some other time?”
Chen Fan rubbed his chin.
It was the sixth month Chen Fan had stayed in Old China Town.
He felt that the atmosphere in the city had become tense. Beams of light flashed in the sky from all directions and landed at the Ancestral Temple. Each of them made the temple shine bright.
According to rumors…
All the Connate Overlords of the Chinese were there. That night, a thunderous bell toll came from the Ancestral Temple and the gates were opened. Elite soldiers of the highest order rushed out of the city on black horses.
“I heard that the Barbaric Dragons are at the border. The thirty two cities of the Chinese have sent out all of their troops under the command of the Ancestral Temple and they’re ready to fight,” Old Ding reported.
There were thirty two cities in the Yan State that belonged to the Chinese and there was a population of billions of people. Old China Town was the largest city among the others, but all of them were ruled by the Ancestral Temple.
“The Barbaric Dragons?”
Chen Fan narrowed his eyes.
In the last few months, he had been traveling between the states of the Beihan Region to look for spatial nodes and a place where thunderbolts gathered. He had become familiar with the things happening in the region. Other than mankind, there were many other aliens living in the Beihan Region. As their number, the most powerful were rightfully called the “Top Ten” and they were on an equal footing with the six Grotto-heavens and the eight superior families.
The Silver Spirits, where Gu Lingzi came from, was one of them.
Even though the Barbaric Dragons weren’t among the Top Ten, they were much more powerful than the Chinese. They had a population of over a billion members across three states and were protected by the Golden Core Barbaric Dragon God.
“The Barbaric Dragons have held a deep-rooted enmity towards the Chinese for a long time. They’ve always wanted to exterminate us,” Auntie Liu said anxiously.
The Chinese had a lot of enemies in the Yan State. The Northern Sea Water Feys were just small problems. Their biggest enemies were the Barbaric Dragons. They wouldn’t have survived until then if the Barbaric Dragons didn’t have as many enemies and if they didn’t have support.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have a Perfected Cultivator here. If not, the Barbaric Dragons would never dare to provoke us.” Uncle Zhang clenched his fists. “I wonder when Master Qin Luo can enter the Golden Core Level.”
Many neighbors were worried.
But Chen Fan didn’t care about it.
The war was far away from Chen Fan, but Xiao Mang came back less frequently than before, and she left in a hurry every time.
Chen Fan heard through the grapevine that Xiao Mang was being sent to the frontline to fight with those enemies and improve her skills. Every time she came back, she became calmer and colder than before. She barely smiled at others, mostly doing so when she was talking to Chen Fan.
“Brother, the white-bearded grandpas taught me a lot of things today.”
“Brother, Great Grandpa asked you to go to the Ancestral Temple and have a drink with him.”
“Brother…”
Xiao Mang only talked about happy things in front of Chen Fan. She didn’t want him to worry.
Only when she fell asleep on Chen Fan’s lap, she mumbled in her dreams, “Brother, the enemies broke through the Yuluo Gate today. Many monsters ran in and tons of people died. Most of them were brothers and sisters who practiced with me at the Ancestral Temple. They were really nice to me. They even gave me rice cakes sometimes, but they’re all dead…”
Chen Fan remained silent and stroked the girl’s face.
Immortal Cultivators were very competitive and they would kill countless people. He didn’t know if it had been the right decision to drag Xiao Mang into this. Sometimes, Chen Fan thought it might be better for Xiao Mang to stay out of the Immortal Cultivation world.
“I can’t believe I’d be so soft-hearted.”
Chen Fan shook his head with a smile.
Immortal Cultivation was an act that defied God’s will, but one would die after a century without cultivating. Xiao Mang would have chosen to cultivate as well if she had been given the chance.
The war continued. Millions of Chinese soldiers were fighting against the Barbaric Dragon warriors. There was news from time to time saying that the enemies had destroyed some cities, or that some Connate Cultivators had died, or about entire troops having been annihilated…
The situation wasn’t good for the Chinese. An endless amount of bad news arrived from the frontline and people in the entire Old China Town became more serious. A lot of Connate Overlords flew out of the Ancestral Temple to the frontline every day.
Qin Luo stayed at the border all the time.
That day.
While Chen Fan was cultivating, he suddenly opened his eyes and looked outside the window.
The sky outside Old China Town had been covered with black clouds. Looking closely, those weren’t clouds, but countless alien soldiers coming on top of their monsters. They were all two meters tall and had dragon horns on their heads. They were riding Horned Eagles and there seemed to be a hundred thousand of them.
Dozens of them were ten meters tall. Their bodies were covered in black scales and they had a pair of dragon horns. They were enveloped in black mist rife with earth-shattering energy; all of them were apparently Connate Overlords.
“Xie Changying, get your a** over here!” said their leader, who was thirty meters tall. Its voice shook the entire city and frightened all the citizens.
The Barbaric Dragons had arrived.